


The Joy of Royalty

by MouseBird



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, there's a lil bit of dissociation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 13:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17426390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MouseBird/pseuds/MouseBird
Summary: Mòrag tries to deal with an attempt on her life.





	The Joy of Royalty

Today was definitely a bad day. Usually Mòrag would tell herself that labeling a day before it truly finished was a bad sign, but considering the events of this morning, it was safe to say that it was bad. It was hard to imagine a day to be good when the morning consisted of some guy trying to kill her while she was in the middle of doing paperwork. He probably could have been successful too, if his method of choice wasn't to awaken a blade in front of her in hopes to use it to kill her.  
  
The awakening had failed, and the ether from it caused the failed assassin's skin to crack before his body broke into many tiny, little pieces. A gruesome sight to be sure, but it wasn't like it was the worst one she had seen. She was a soldier after all, she saw men die in worse ways over stupider mistakes. She might have even assumed that the man just wanted to awaken the blade in front of her if he hadn't shouted something about killing her for the glory of the Empire right before he did so. That was kind of a dead giveaway.  
  
But even with the blade rejecting him, the assailant looked so confident. Maybe he had planned for it. Maybe he had hoped that failing to awaken the blade would have killed her too, and it might have, if it were a different blade. Maybe it wasn't even the wrong blade. Despite not being a blade, she had been able to feel the ether from it and it was off compared to the ether from Brighid or any of her other blades. It had caused the tips of her fingers to go dry in her gloves, but they had not bled. Maybe if he took a step forward, the ether would been close enough to cause her skin to crack open too, Brighid's swords hanging uselessly at her side as she could do nothing but wait for the inevitable to happen.  
  
No, there was no use for to think about the things that had not happened. It wasn't like this was the first attempt at her life, anyways, or even the closest. It was the first one in a while though, probably the first one after they had reached Elysium, now that she thought about it. A part of her had wished that the assassination attempts would end after that, but she knew that it was a false hope. There were still people who hated her and Niall, for various reasons. They wanted war, even if land was plentiful and the times peaceful. They wanted the child off the throne, even if he had proven to be wiser beyond his years multiple times. They wanted to get rid of her, even if she helped the Aegis save Alrest.  
  
That was the price she paid for being a member for the royal family. There would always be opposition, no matter what. That was the joy of politics, one of the senators had told her. Unlike her, he had a choice to be a part of it or not.  
  
Honestly, the worst thing about this wasn't any of that or even that her office reeked of death and had little chunks of human scattered everywhere, but that the Emperor insisted that she take the rest of the day off. If anything, she should have been instructed to work harder. Overlooking the defense of the castle was her job, even if she couldn't stop shaking or manage to stand still.  
  
It wasn't really a day off anyways, no one would let her exit the castle grounds. She understood why, of course, but it just made her feel trapped. Considering that they hadn't let any unauthorized people into the castle today or really ever and it was hard to sneak in, it was more likely that the failed assassin was authorized, or that he even worked in the castle.  
  
He could have been a part of the military too. She might have even trained him herself. She hadn't recognized the guy when he came into her office, but she the recruits she trained usually had their masks on so that didn't mean anything. She'd like to think that she hadn't trained him, mostly because she hoped that the recruits she trained would have chosen a more effective method, like just using a gun. Sometimes the simplest of solutions were the best.  
  
There was not much use on speculating on the assailant's identity anyways, she'll hopefully find out in a few days’ time. Due to his face being in multiple pieces and all, they would have to run DNA tests to figure out who he was rather than bring in people to identify him.  
  
But wait, if he did work for the castle could that mean he had buddies in there too. What if they went for Niall next? No, no, his Majesty had Aegaeon watching over him, even if he wasn't the Emperor's blade anymore. And after the attack, surveillance on the throne room and the Emperor was tightened. Niall would be okay, and he had enough protection if there was an attack. Hopefully.  
  
No use dwelling on that, anyways. It was her day off now, so she did not have to worry about things like that, at least not as the Special Inquisitor. Since she was trapped in the castle, and her office was being cleaned up, there was not much to do. Mòrag ended up just pacing around the perimeter of the castle in an attempt to keep her mind occupied and to stop herself from fidgeting so much. She could sense officers from her own unit following her. That was unnecessary, she had Brighid's swords after all and they had a fair amount of ether energy stored with them. She could handle herself, even if she also had the swords during the incident this morning.  
  
Something weird happened when she walked. Mòrag felt as if her body was moving on its own and she was just watching it from the outside. Hell, the attack felt so far away, like it didn't just happen this morning. In fact, it felt as if the attack actually happened to some alternate version of her, though she knew that it didn't. Maybe the feeling would go away while she walked.  
  
The presence of someone watching her eventually did go away. It took her less than a second to figure out why when she felt something warm come up behind her and heard a familiar voice. The news of today's event must have reached her.  
  
"Mind if I join you?" Brighid asked.  
  
"No, of course not," Mòrag said, her mouth moving on its own accord.  
  
They walked in tandem but in silence. Even without talking, Brighid's presence was a comfort. Mòrag could still feel her body shaking, but it wasn't as intense as it was before.  
  
Everyone that they saw seemed to be on guard, which was understandable given what happened. They were the only ones who were roaming freely around the castle now that the soldiers stopped following Mòrag. All of the high ranking officers were keeping a close eye on their underlings. Most of the senators had headed home, but some remained on castle ground. It was hard to see which senators stayed since all of them were surrounded by guards.  
  
Eventually Brighid broke the comfortable silence. "How are you feeling?" she said.  
  
Mòrag's shoulders shrugged in response. Her mouth said, "These types of things just happen."  
  
Brighid took Mòrag's gloved hand in her own. She rubbed soothing circles in Mòrag's palm. "Yes, but you seem to be more… jumpy than usual. Understandably so, might I add."  
  
Right, there was no use in trying to pretend like she was fine with this. Her whole being was still shaking, her head couldn't help but turn at every little noise, and she still didn't feel like she was really there. She hadn't even realized until that the hand that Brighid wasn't rubbing was gripping the hilt of one of her swords. She forced herself to let go of it, her hand now hanging limply at her side.  
  
"You know you can talk to me, right?" Brighid added.  
  
Of course she knew, Brighid was her blade, her trusted companion, and much more than that.  
  
"I just - I don't know what to say." Mòrag sighed. "I'm terrified and all, yet a part of me feels like it didn't actually happen, even though I know it did. I know that's silly. It's been on my mind for the entire day and, Architect, I'm still shaking from it, yet it doesn't feel real."  
  
"You're dissociating."  
  
"I guess that's one way of putting it."  
  
"No, I mean you're actually dissociating. Lady Mòrag, lie down." Brighid pulled her down to the floor and placed her head in her lap. "Focus on what's real. Focus on what you sense right now."  
  
The ground was hard and heated from the sun but it wasn't as hot as Brighid's lap. Her back hurt a bit from the ground. Fingers were running through her hair; her hat had been removed and placed next to Brighid. Off in the distance the shouts of officers giving orders could be heard. Brighid smelled nice but slightly unfamiliar, maybe she was using a new perfume.  
  
Brighid confirmed that yes, it was a new perfume. She, also, had her do some other mundane things, like counting backwards but skipping every third number, to help anchor her back to reality. The event still felt so distant but Mòrag felt like she was finally back in her own body. Her shaking mostly stopped too, besides a slight tremor in her fingers. It ran down her arm when she lifted it.  
  
She brought her trembling hand to Brighid’s cheek. Brighid leaned into her touch.  
  
“How are you feeling?” Mòrag asked. She probably should have asked earlier as Brighid’s life had been on the line as well.  
  
"To be frank with you, at first I did not think much of this situation. We had been through similar things before, and if I was still here then that meant you were still here. But when I couldn't tell where your eyes were looking, I started to get worried. You don't usually react like this."  
  
"My apologies."  
  
Brighid raised her hand to meet Mòrag's own. Mòrag smiled, but that quickly changed when Brighid pinched her. She yelped in pain. "This isn't something you apologize for, Lady Mòrag."  
  
Mòrag's first instinct was to apologize again, but she was able to bite that back. Instead she just nodded. She closed her eyes and found that it was hard to open them again. Ah, was it that late already or had all that worrying tired her out? She managed to crack open her eyes. The sun was just beginning to set, so it was still fairly early.  
  
She knew she did not need to ask, but she did so anyways just for the confirmation. "Stay with me tonight, Brighid."  
  
"Of course, Lady Mòrag."  
  
They stayed in the same position until the sun set. During that time Mòrag's shaking had finally stopped. The noise had died down as the military officers finished up their drills. When the two headed into the castle, the only people outside were the night guards.  
  
On their way back to their room, a guard stopped them and informed them that there was no other dangers found in the castle. Mòrag worried that there was a spot that was missed, but she tried to brush it to the side. If they did miss something, then she'd be able to take care of it when she was back on duty. Or at least that was what she told herself to prevent the shaking from starting up again.  
  
Brighid seemed to notice that she was lost in thought as she placed a hand on Mòrag's arm. Right, Brighid would probably be with her for the whole day tomorrow rather than going off into the city because she found waiting for Mòrag to finish paperwork to be rather boring. She had nothing to worry about, then.  
  
Mòrag jumped into her bed as fast as she could, which wasn't all that fast considering how tired she was and how long it took her to take off her uniform. Brighid was waiting on the bed for her.  
  
Despite being so tired, sleep would not take to her when she closed her eyes.  
  
Theoretically, if the man had been close enough to kill her, would he have been able to kill any of her companions? Rex was the driver of the Aegis, or well, Aegises now, so he probably would have been fine. Nia was a flesh eater so she could have shielded herself from the harmful ether and healed herself if any of it had actually harmed her. Knowing Zeke, he had survived worse. And from what she heard from Tora's failed attempts at awakening a blade, he might just get a nosebleed. A bad nosebleed, but probably not life threatening.  
  
Mòrag turned to stare at the ceiling. Brighid groaned in response. She made a mental note to apologize for how restless she was in the morning. Why couldn't she just stop thinking about what happened and go to sleep?  
  
Maybe it was because she truly thought everything would be over after defeating Malos. Maybe she didn't want her time to be cut short, since even if she had already done a lot for the Empire and Alrest, she still had a lot more to do. Maybe she just thought she would have a lot more time to spend with Brighid, and that today was a reminder that it could be cut a lot shorter than she expected. Who really knew?  
  
But she should have known that she could go away in any second. Mòrag thought she did know that, she worked in the military after all. Maybe being Brighid's driver had made her a bit cocky.  
  
The previous attempts on her life were also reminders though, and she hadn't gotten so… disconnected and shaken up from them. She'd just continue on with her day, brushing them off without much of a thought, mostly because she had to carry on. There was always so many things to do, she just didn't have the time to dwell on what happened. But now, with the concerns of the impending war with Uraya or a dying titan no longer relevant, she had all the time in the world. Yet, something in the back of her head told her there was something more that she was missing.  
  
Mòrag readjusted herself to get a better look at Brighid. Her breathing had slowed down, so she must have fallen asleep. Despite feeling safe in her arms, Mòrag found it hard to fall asleep. She was fine now, though. She had to be fine. Her country needed her to be fine, or at least she'd like to think it did.  
  
Today was a bad day. Of course, what day could be good with an assassination attempt in it? But tomorrow would just be business as usual. That was how it had always went, anyways. Granted now business as usual would just mean more paperwork and, if she was unlucky, dealing with petty political bullshit. Before it was settling squabbles in battle and trying to prevent a war from happening.  
  
Mòrag's eyes grew heavy again. Her mind was almost ready to let her sleep, but there was one last thing.  
  
...Maybe that was why this assassination attempt had bothered her more than the other ones. If she had died during the other ones it would have been in battle, or while she was guarding the Emperor. This would have been the only one where she would have died just doing paperwork.


End file.
